Game VS Reality car performance thread

[Doge]

This is a topic I´m very interested about, and it seems to trigger a lot of good discussion here. It is often said Project CARS has too much grip, the cars are too fast, etc... but we rarely go into detail.

Comparing leaderboards and pole position times from real racing series doesn´t cut it since we can do a lot of stuff real drivers can not (like closing the cooling, or creating a one-lap setup in series with parc fermé rules).

The idea of this thread is simple: trying to create a set of conditions as close to a real qualifying session as possible, drive in these conditions, and only then draw accurate comparisons.

[KasperVJensen]

Cool experiment!

Makes me think that there should be an option to implement this into races somehow.

[Doge]

Cool experiment!

Makes me think that there should be an option to implement this into races somehow.

Or maybe a ghost for time trial mode with the fastest lap ever that car has achieved around that track.

[KasperVJensen]

I think there already is that?

[havocc]

I don't want to be repetitive but avoiding wild downshifting to maximize engine braking should be a top priority for Pcars2, in-game record at Spa is 6/7 seconds faster than Vettel's record, fixed 5lt fuel and perfect track/weather conditions aren't worth 6/7 seconds gap

[Doge]

I think there already is that?

I mean the real car fastest laptime, not the in-game leaderboard lap

I don't want to be repetitive but avoiding wild downshifting to maximize engine braking should be a top priority for Pcars2, in-game record at Spa is 6/7 seconds faster than Vettel's record, fixed 5lt fuel and perfect track/weather conditions aren't worth 6/7 seconds gap

That bullshit also plagued Codemasters games. I don´t do it myself so I don´t know to what extent that exploit is game breaking in this game, but that kind of driving should lock the rear wheels for those doing it. It already happens with other cars if you time a shift wrong.

[havocc]

Should also blow the engine/gearbox

[Sander NL]

Very nice work Doge! Thanks for your effort and time.

I also like to compare real world lap times with the lap times possible in project CARS. I've made a thread with historically accurate car – track combinations to be able to compare my own laptimes to the all-time great of motorsport: http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/sho...k-combinations

A couple of thoughts regarding your experiment:

* You've compared the project CARS Formula A car with Mark Webber's lap in a 2011 Red Bull-Renault (RB7). This was the fastest car at that time. The actual qualification times of 2011 during the German GP ranged from 1:30.079 (Webber; P1) to 1:37.036 (D. Ricciardo in a HRT-Cosworth; P24)*. Hence the project CARS Formula A lap time should be between 1:30 and 1:37. Not faster.
* You've compared your lap time with Mark Webber's qualification lap. Mark's lap should be considered the ultimate lap time. Your lap time should not be faster.

As you've found out: The project CARS Formula A car is (way) too fast. It should, in the hands of a professional driver be able to lap 1:30 - 1:37 (depending on which Formula 1 car is simulated in project CARS). In the hands of a non professional driver it should be (a lot) slower.

Like I've said in the 'Historically accurate car – track combinations'-thread: I'm really impressed how close this game comes to reality! Great job SMS!
But there is still room for improvement as your experiment shows.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_German_Grand_Prix

[Doge]

Should also blow the engine/gearbox

It´s weird because I would have sweared to have read about people complaining they were blowing their engine because the game would downshift them into first gear in one click. So maybe the effect is there but it only punishes the most blatant nonsense.

It´s curious how looking at leaderboards, in some tracks the in game car totally obliterates pole position (Spa, Monza) while in others (Silverstone, Nurburbring) it can barely go any faster. Maybe there´s a bit of track abuse involved in some of these times?

[Sander NL]

I was quite surprised with the result, as I expected the car to destroy by a huge margin the real pole. It wasn´t the case, the margin was sort of reasonable.

That's not what I took from your experiment.

You did "destroy" the 2011 pole position time "by a huge margin".
0.607 seconds is a "huge margin" in F1 terms. Especially considering you were the driver and not Mark Webber.